Ellie Jake Here I Am for McBrock

My thanks to the officers & committee for their invitation & hospitality , I thoroughly enjoyed my day with them , the border folk & their dogs .Thanks too to my stewards for the day who kept the ring running smoothly . It is 28 years since I attended my 1st YLCBTC Ch show , watching Ch Dandyhow Crofter gain his title & Ch Thistycroft Candlelight take top honours . I remember clearly the heavy fall Ted Hutchinson had due to lack of mats , thankfully no-one slipped today , though some dogs did. For me the most important sentence is ˜essentially a working terrier” I fully appreciate a gorgeous otter head & all breed details , but the common factor of all terriers pedigree & crossbreed who go to ground is that they are narrow fronted & eminently spannable , having a flat rib, this is a flattish egg shape , never slab-sided , well sprung nor barrel chested , all equally faulty in a Border . If the frame is too big by being either too deep &/or sprung they will get stuck & die underground as not all places are diggable . I was taught they should resemble a lightweight hunter , legs slightly longer than depth of body & ˜fairly long in body”, i.e. longer wither to end of loin than wither to elbow with no trace of brisket below elbow . These essentials plus positive straight scopy movement were uppermost today . I have no colour prejudice nor pedigree preference at all. Temperaments were excellent in the ring with only a couple of “outbursts” from outside, a must for a working terrier is an equable nature . All males were entire . A few misplaced teeth & tail faults which would not affect work but do pass on to progeny . Untypical round eyes often too close together are prone to damage & ulceration working , & give a surprised foreign look rather than kind in repose & keen when alert correct expression . Quite a few ran down to the shoulders being either short in foreleg &/or steep in croup . Was pleased my winners have enough scope & soundness to get there & handled well enough in rib & front to be able to get in & more importantly , back out again.

I would like to thank the Officers and Committee of the Northern Border Terrier Club for the kind invitation to judge their open show at Otterburn. I thoroughly enjoyed my day and was delighted with my winners. Many thanks to my stewards Lesley Gosling and Allen Horner who kept everything running smoothly throughout the day. I would also like to thank all exhibitors for the privilege of judging their dogs. Driving across to the venue on the morning of the show was a timely reminder of the terrain that Borders Terriers were bred to encounter whilst out hunting. Bearing this in mind I was looking for fit dogs whose structure and movement allowed them to cover the ground economically. Positives were that the dogs were generally fit, they were shown in coats that had not been over trimmed and temperaments were good. A couple of negative points that I felt applied to a number of exhibits: there were few dogs with really big teeth and also there were rather a lot of thin tight skins. Really thick pliable skin was a rarity.

Not a numerically strong entry, but plenty of quality – I had no difficulty finding enough good ‘uns. The Border Terrier standard is short on detail, and needs interpretation. I see the key to that interpretation to be in the first two lines of the standard – ‘Essentially a working terrier‘, and ‘capable of following a horse, combining activity with gameness‘. It is further necessary to fully understand that the work the terrier is expected to do, is to go to ground to bolt a fox; that the horse in question is typically a sturdy hill pony, and the ground to follow it over is typically rough, upland country such as the Cheviots or North Pennines. Hence a sturdy dog is required, with enough scope and length to move economically on rough ground, enough lung and heart room to do it at speed all day, yet small enough to follow a fox to ground. Too short, or too narrow or sprung in the rib will not do this; nor will steep shoulders or under- or over-angulated hind quarters. Coat and pelt must be fit to protect from both weather and fox; quality is of more importance than grooming. Other than one senior citizen with missing teeth (understandable), a few exhibits with chipped teeth (no problem) and several with bites no better than level (not incorrect, merely undesirable), I found no bad mouths. All males were entire.

Thank you to the show committee for inviting me to judge, to Tom my steward and all who entered and exhibited. All dogs were sound and healthy, the welcome in the North East was appreciated.

*Dogs* Many thanks to the Midland Committee for this appointment and to all those especially the stewards who made for an enjoyable day. The entry in general reflected the type the exhibitors by now know I like. However there were a number up to size and exhibiting poor front angulation and short deep ribs and paid the price. I was looking for dogs with a typical otter head straight narrow front well laid shoulders ribbed back spannable and racey rear quarters with thick pelt in harsh double coat all of which we should be looking for in the ideal Border Terrier that is essentially a working terrier. I was very pleased with my winners overall and had good depth of quality in the limit and open classes that generally displayed the above attributes. The dog CC and ultimately BIS Ch Olderhill Afortunado is the ideal border terrier that shows with confidence and has class. He has a good border head of otter type strong jaw with keen expression on strong neck set into well laid shoulders ,narrow ribs carried back ,ideal length strong loin and the desired rear quarters ,shown in double coat and top condition moved with drive to cover the ground. Pleased my co-judge agreed this boys qualities worthy of BIS. The RCC Tythrop Timepiece this excellent blue and tan displayed similar qualities to the above and with his good turn of stifle and short hocks and tight feet moved so well and with top presentation took this award over the quality 2nd in Open and Limit winner and with time maturity should complete the picture. The Bitch CC winner and BOS,RBIS Ploughdown Placida is a top quality exhibit but for me just not the strength in loin of the dog but a close decision . *Judge: John Bainbridge* *Bitches* A great honour to judge bitches at this breed club show, my grateful thanks to the Midland Border Terrier Club for their warm and friendly hospitality and to my two competent and hardworking stewards. I had a most enjoyable day and was delighted that my final line-up comprised of excellent and true to type examples of the breed, with some really promising youngsters amongst them. It is always foremost in my mind when judging this breed that it is essential that the dog’s conformation and movement should demonstrate its capability to work and follow a horse. I found this a challenge today, rather too many exhibits failing to demonstrate free ground covering movement or any length of stride to ‘follow a horse’: with weak pasterns resulting in uneconomic paddling action and poor reach; and sickle hocks impairing effective drive. I was also struck by the number of short ribs and untypical ‘cut up’ underlines. On a positive note temperaments were uniformly sound which is of great importance, although I felt numerous exhibits were neither ‘active’ nor ‘game’ in their demeanour. I was delighted to co-judge BIS with John Bainbridge and pleased that we agreed on all of our joint decisions today. *Judge: Sarah Dandy*